Social Victorians/19thC Freemasonry

19th-Century Freemasons

• Edward Albert, Prince of Wales
• Frederick Leigh Gardner
• W. Wynn Westcott
• A. E. Waite
• Robert Felkin, 1907
• A. F. A. Woodford
• William Robert Woodman
• Charles Spencer Canning Boyle, 10th Earl of Cork and Orrery
• Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
• Robert Hawthorne Collins
• Arthur Conan Doyle

19th-century Lodges

Freemasonry as a site of social interaction.

• Mark Mason's Lodge — Freemason Lodge in which MacGregor Mathers, among many other members of the Golden Dawn, was installed into the Golden Dawn, in his case as Imperator of the Isis Urania Temple in 1890 (Gilbert 86 12).
• Phoenix Lodge No. 257 in Southsea, of which Arthur Conan Doyle was a member on and off (1889–1911)

Some Notable Events

1897 May 28, Friday, in "The Queen's Reign" the London Times reported the following "masonic service":

A masonic service was held yesterday, at evensong, in the Collegiate Church of St. Saviour, Southwark, to celebrate the record reign of her Majesty and to assist the restoration fund of the church. By special dispensation of the Grand Master the brethren were permitted to attend the service in full masonic attire, and a very impressive scene was thus witnessed by the congregation. Among those present were Lord Lathom (pro-Grand Master), Lord Llangattock, Lord Connemara, Lord Harlech, Mr. Justice Bruce, and also the following brethren:— Mr. W. L. Jackson, M.P., Sir Offley Wakeman, Mr. Causton, M.P., Mr. H. Bancroft, Mr. E. Terry, Mr. Lionel Brough, Colonel A. B. Cook, Mr. R. Eve, Mr. R. Loveland Loveland (president of the Board of General Purposes), the Rev. Dr. Currie, Mr. Letchworth (grand secretary), and Mr. W. Lake (assistant grand secretary). Before the service the following voluntaries were rendered by organ and orchestra:— "Largo" (Handel), "Idyll" (Battison Haynes), and "occasional" Overture (Handel). Immediately preceding the service a procession was formed, in which the grand officers walked from the Ladye Chapel down the north, to the west end, thence up the nave to the reserved seats under the tower and the east end of the nave. The provincial grand officers proceeded from the parochial offices, and occupied the reserved seats at the east end of the nave. Clerical brethren included in the foregoing procession retired to the vestry on the north side of the choir, and joined the procession of the choir, clergy, and chapter to the choir seats and stalls. Clerical brethren with robes — not grand officers or provincial grand officers — after entering the church proceeded to the north choir aisle, where they waited and joined in the last-mentioned procession. The service was intoned by Archdeacon Sinclair (P.G.C.) and Canon Thompson. The opening hymn was "O Jerusalem the blissful," and the proper psalms followed. The special lessons (Haggai ii., 4 to 10 and 1. Cor. iii., 9 to 18) were read by the Rev. Dr. Childe and the Archdeacon of Essex. The Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis were sung to music by Gadsby in C and the anthem was "Lift up your heads" (Handel). The sermon was preached by the Very Rev. Dr. Hole, Dean of Rochester, grand chaplain, from Acts viii., 26, "Sirs, ye are brethren." The financial results of the service were a contribution towards the £7,000 required of about £2,340, including £1,000 from Lord Llangattock, £600 from Mr. Alfred Bevan, over £400 subscribed by the committee, and £320 collected at the service.

Freemasons in 19th-century Literature

• John Hector McFalane in Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder" is a Freemason (Baring-Gould II 415).

19th-century Freemasonry

• The Prince of Wales was leader of his Lodge by virtue of his position?
• Only Master Masons were admitted to the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (SRIA), Metropolitan College? W. Wynn Westcott was Supreme Magus in the SRIA in 1907 when Robert Felkin was initiated.
• The men who founded the Golden Dawn and many of its early members were Freemasons as well as, typically, members of the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society.

References

Running Bibliography

• Baring-Gould